![](https://nextpakistan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Aitchison.jpg)
- March 27, 2024
- Kainat Shakeel
- 0
In Pakistan, numerous institutions have been destroyed by excessive meddling from authorities and rule-breaking. Politicization and nepotism are commonplace in education, particularly in public sector institutions. Aitchison College, a Lahore institution that has educated Pakistan’s elite for generations, is the subject of controversy. Michael A. Thompson, the Australian principal of the school, has submitted his resignation, ostensibly as a result of the Punjab governor meddling in the institution’s operations.
Regarding the particulars of the case, the wife of Ahad Cheema, a federal minister and former bureaucrat, had requested that the school forgo the fees and hold the spots of two of the couple’s children for three years. The governor of Punjab approved the fee waiver even though the principal had rejected it. The principal had also submitted his resignation in the past, citing political pressure. It is now said that the federal government is attempting to patch things up with Mr. Thompson.
The Aitchison affair serves as an example of the state’s misplaced priorities. The education sector is being neglected because the state is not acting where it should be, while institutions are being forced to comply with “requests.” The crisis the higher education industry faces is a stark illustration of this. Approximately one-third of the nation’s universities lack a vice-chancellor, with nearly half of those openings occurring in Punjab. Furthermore, the state of academia in universities is far from ideal. Most of the time, teachers are not teaching students the 21st-century skills they need to succeed, and plagiarism and academic dishonesty among faculty members give students the impression that lying is profitable.
Rather than addressing these significant issues, the state is more preoccupied with favoritism, backroom politics, and scheming. Political interference and nepotism have no place in schools, according to the principal of Aitchison. It is hoped that higher authorities will recognize this and cease their encroaching actions.